Harvey C. Parker - The ADHD Handbook for Schools: Effective Strategies for Identifying and Teaching Students with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder

Copyright 2005 Harvey C. Parker

All rights reserved.

No part of this book, except those portions specifically noted, may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means now known or to be invented, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for brief quotations. Requests for permission or further information should be addressed to the publisher.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Parker, Harvey C.

The ADHD handbook for schools : effective strategies for identifying and teaching students with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder / Harvey C. Parker

p. cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 1-886941-61-0 (alk. paper)

1. Attention-defict-disordered children--Education--United States. 2. Attention-deficit hyperactivity-disorder--Diagnosis--United States. 3. Behavior disorders in children--Diagnosis--United States. I. Title

LC4713.4.P365 2005

371.94--dc22

2005054183

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report in June 2005 detailing the results of a national survey on the prevalence of emotional and behavioral difficulties in children in the United States. The findings indicated that a growing number of children suffer from difficulties with emotions, concentration, behavior, and getting along with others. Up to one in ten children suffer from a serious emotional disturbance. Shockingly, seventy percent of children with a diagnosable disorder do not receive mental health services.

In the National Action Agenda for Childrens Mental Health, former United States Surgeon General, Dr. David Satcher, warned that the suffering experienced by children and adolescents with mental health needs and their families has created a health crisis in the United States. Growing numbers of children are suffering needlessly because their emotional, behavioral, and developmental needs are not being met. Dr. Satcher called for action, noting that it is time that we, as a nation, took seriously the task of preventing mental health problems and treating mental illnesses in youth.

The need for such action is particularly great for children in minorities for they are less likely to have access to mental health services, and the care they do receive is often of lesser quality.

The poor also often do not have access to mental health services. Impoverished children are affected by mental health disorders at a significantly higher rate and at a much more intense level than children in affluent populations. This is often due to their living situation and their inability to access affordable services.

To improve services for children with mental health problems and their families, Dr. Satcher stated that we need to take three steps:

1. improve early recognition and appropriate identification of mental disorders in children within all systems serving children;
2. improve access to services by removing barriers faced by families with mental health needs, with a specific aim to reduce disparities in access to care; and
3. close the gap between research and practice, ensuring evidence-based treatments for children.

The George Washington Universitys Center for Health and Health Care in Schools discussed the current challenges and future directions in providing mental health services to children in the United States. Sarah Olbrich emphasized the important role played by schools. Olbrich noted that mental health services are provided in the United States in four ways:

1. through specialty mental health practitioners such as psychologists, psychiatric nurses, psychiatrists, and psychiatric social workers;
2. through general medical/primary care practitioners such as family physicians, nurse practitioners, internists, and pediatricians;
3. through human services such as social welfare, criminal justice, educational, religious, and charitable services; and
4. through voluntary support networks such as self-help groups and organizations.

Many children in need of care are not receiving it. Barriers to access of available services include lack of health insurance, an overloaded mental health system, misdiagnosis, and parents concern about stigma and their own mental health issues.

The majority of federal money for childrens mental health is spent on services for youth with serious mental health disorders, the group that represents the smallest proportion of children receiving mental health services. The result of this funding focus is that children may only have access to a provider for services after they have entered systems such as special education or the juvenile justice system. Only three percent of funding went to early identification and intervention efforts.

The National Association of School Psychologists cautions that failure to address childrens mental health needs is linked to poor academic performance, behavior problems, school violence, dropping out, substance abuse, special education referral, suicide, and criminal activity.

Schools play a vital role in protecting the mental health of children. Along with parents, schools teach children positive behavior, social competence, and emotional well-being in addition to academics. Teachers can build a childs self-confidence. They can create a sense of belonging and connectedness for the child. They can encourage children to explore their talents and abilities leading to a sense of accomplishment and pride.

Schools can play a vital role in providing access to services that would otherwise be denied to many children. Of the fifteen million children and adolescents who receive mental health services annually, nine percent receive care from the health care sector, mainly from specialty mental health specialists, and seventeen percent receive care from the human services sector, mostly in the school system.

School psychologists, school counselors, school social workers, and school nurses provide mental health services to children in schools and help parents, teachers, and other school staff address the mental health needs of students.

According to Olbrich, for many children in the United States, schools function as the most frequent provider of mental health services. Such services in schools may include evaluation, individual and group counseling, crisis intervention, and referral. These services are provided in many different ways. Some schools have stand-alone services. Others hold programs throughout the community for specific mental health issues. Some schools have school-based health centers.

Besides creating a supportive environment that fosters mentally healthy traits, schools implement programs targeted at specific issues or skills for development (e.g., bullying prevention, conflict resolution, social skills training, parent training, substance abuse prevention). Schools also provide interventions for individual students with mental health needs through counseling, classroom accommodations, and special education services.

School psychologists provide consultation services with teachers and families. They do assessments that can lead to diagnosis and eligibility for special education and related services under the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA).